


Keith's Empathy

by genericfanatic



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Empath, Empathic Keith, Gen, empath au, headcanon fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 22:45:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14482827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/pseuds/genericfanatic
Summary: Headcanon Fic for my sideblogBland Voltron HeadcanonsCongratulations tomeythecatfor winning the 2,000 follower fic giveaway!!!They choseTHISheadcanon byquartersety-of-a-holsetywhich I have done my best to write into a 2,000 word fic.the headcanon is: Keith is an empath, and a highly attuned one at that. Since learning the Lions are sentient, he’s beginning to believe that he managed to track down the Blue Lion on Earth via this ability, and that the energy he sensed was actually the Lion’s own emotions. He’s still not entirely sure of this theory, but figures it’s a start.





	Keith's Empathy

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to check out my blog [Bland Voltron Headcanons](https://blandvoltronheadcanons.tumblr.com/) for more awesome headcanons!

It was always difficult for Keith to figure out what was different about him compared to everyone else. When all the kids at school would talk about the special treat in their lunch their mom had packed them, or complained about the video game their mom had taken away, Keith wondered what it was like having a woman walking around the house and caring for him when his Dad couldn’t. 

When other kids were complaining about math tests, or running miles in gym, or years later pilot simulations, he was always confused. Studying came easy to him, what else was he going to do while waiting for his Dad or later Foster Parents to come home? Running was easy, he had legs that were built for it, and while he thought he was just doing what was expected, it was only when he turned back that he realized he’d left the rest of his class half a lap behind. And Piloting simulations...those were the best of all, getting to be alone with the simulated open sky...it only made him wish to get into a real ship. It was certainly better than chatting with classmates like all the other kids. 

It took a while to realize none of the other kids could tell when the school bullies were especially angry and coming, projecting a warning into Keith’s mind to hide away.None of the other kids could tell when the teacher was stressed and to not push their luck today. They didn’t know when the Lunch Lady was in a good mood so a well timed smile would get them a free pudding cup. 

As he got older, the feelings and strong emotions from his classmates got too much. It was hard to tell what was his own feelings and what was from the students around him. Was that him panicking, or was it Jeremy Cavanaugh’s panic about the upcoming test? At some point he was certain it was going to drive him insane.

He learned about himself from television. His dad would watch sci-fi stuff about aliens and spaceships. Keith couldn’t say he was overly interested, even though he liked space, but he did learn a new word, ‘empath.’ The ability to feel other people’s emotions. No one else he knew of could do it. When he brought it up to his Dad, he just looked at him strangely, shook his head and moved on. His teacher’s thought he was pretending. The wide-eyed young teacher complimented him on his imagination and tried to encourage him to write a book. The older bitter teachers told him to stop wasting their time.

So, he kept it to himself. Some days it was so overwhelming, he had to go and hide in the bathroom clutching his head to keep everything out of the way. He hated going into crowds of people. After a time, though, he learned to take deep breaths and try and filter the noise of the emotions out. As long as he kept himself calm, he could use that calmness and focus. It meant he was quiet, more than the other kids (another difference) but he would be ok. 

So it meant he was even more separated from his peers. What else was new. 

As he grew older, he was able to actually use it more. Focus on a person specifically, take deep breaths and be able to see what they were feeling. When he only felt on a superficial level, all he got was an impression, like a hazy color, or an aura, except without it being visual. When he focused on someone, the hazy impression turned into a painting of nuanced emotions. Even the person themselves probably didn’t realize the array of emotions they were feeling. 

One of his favorite people to analyze emotionally was his tutor, Shiro. He was calm and collected, the Garrison’s golden boy, but underneath was an ocean of amusement, boredom, wild energies he hid carefully with an easy smile until the teachers were out of the way. Then, he would give Keith a look, showing all the exasperation at the rule-following instructors, and Keith would snort. He wasn’t fond of the teachers, mostly because he could feel how they were faking just as much as anyone else, but they pretended like they were these wells of experience and steadiness, and enjoyed getting the cadets to fear and trust in them. It drove Keith up the wall, which is why Shiro’s more genuine side made him feel better. 

Shiro was the first person he told about his ability that believed him. Technically speaking, Keith didn’t need a tutor, but he had enough disciplinary issues he’d been put on the list for students who needed help. This meant mostly Shiro would chide him into doing his work, and then they’d chat easily. 

One day he was smiling and normal as ever. Not a single frown line or baggy eyelid gave him away. But underneath that, Keith could feel a sadness inside. “Something wrong?” he asked. 

Shiro’s emotions spike with surprise as someone saw through his mask of ease. “Nope, why?”

Keith squinted at him, “You’re sad.”

“No I’m not,” Shiro said with a huffed laugh, but his emotions were whirling with worry that he’d given himself away. “Are YOU okay?”

“It’s okay, you know,” Keith said, “I’m not going to think any less of you.” 

Finally the mask fell away, and Shiro looked around to see if anyone was watching. “I got a letter. My dad’s sick. I’m just worried, is all.”

Keith nodded. “My dad died when I was a kid,” he said. That’s what the police told him, anyway. “It’s hard.” Shiro nodded, watching Keith carefully. The worry had transferred to worry for him. “Just saying...I understand, I guess.”

There was a bloom of relief at the ‘I understand.’ “You’re perceptive, kid,” Shiro said, “More than you let on.”

Keith ducked his head. Most people thought he was a statue who didn’t care about other’s or their emotions. But….Shiro had just trusted him…. “I’m an empath.”

Shiro frowned, confused. “An…”

“I can sense other people’s emotions,” Keith said, suddenly becoming preoccupied with his work so he didn’t have to look up at Shiro. “Dunno why. Just always could.”

There was a hint of doubt emanating from Shiro. Slowly, as he always did, he pushed the doubt aside, ready to believe for Keith’s sake even if it didn’t mesh with his own worldview. “Sounds useful.”

“Annoying is what it is,” he muttered, and that got Shiro to laugh. 

Shiro would test him occasionally, asking how other people around him felt. He never put it forward as a test, but Keith knew that’s what it was. He passed each one with flying colors, every time he did, a touch of the doubt ebbed away. 

And then...Shiro was gone. Keith didn’t know what to do, his calm and focus vanishing. Everyone else’s emotions were added to his own, some sad, some angry but the worst were the feelings of neutrality and happiness, the cadets and instructors who felt no loss at all but just continued on their normal lives. How could life just go on? How was it that the world still turned and couldn’t everything just pause for one goddamn second, just STOP!

Well, things certainly stopped when the emotions finally all boiled over at once and he nabbed Iverson in the eye. At least packing his bags and heading out before the child protective services could grab him gave him something to focus on. 

His only priority at that point was getting OUT. Away from the emotions. Away from all feeling. Away, away, away, until the only feelings, the only terrible feelings he was left with were his own. He had somehow ended up wandering into the desert, and was finally able to feel only his own emotions. 

Except…

Except there was also this...pull. It wasn’t like other emotions he felt, but it….it wasn’t his own. It was this little pressure in the back of his mind, asking him to follow it. And so he did. 

A year later he had to grow accustomed to having people with emotions around for more than it took to make an errand run. Lance’s disgust and competitive anger hiding uncertainty, Hunk’s nervous anxiety battling with his compassion for his friends, Pidge’s curiosity driving her (and it was ‘her’, he could feel her feelings about that everytime someone called her ‘him’) towards her determination and away from her loss. And Shiro…

Ever present was Shiro’s calm facade, but instead of amusement underneath there was a terrible pain, and fear, and loss and shame, so much it made Keith’s head spin. He’d take it away from his friend if he could, but...he knew that was impossible. Shiro looked at him, knowing he could see through him, and just patted Keith’s arm, trying to smile and bury the emotions even deeper, where they couldn’t hurt Keith.

Aliens, it turned out, had similar emotions to humans. They came about at unexpected times, but Keith recognized it and could feel it. It got him in trouble when meeting the Arusians, as he was so caught up in feeling little Klaizap’s emotions of fear and anger, that he didn’t step back and actually analyze how much of a threat he posed. 

Once they were in space things were easier. Keith got to the point he was able to understand the emotions of his fellow paladins and the Alteans so thoroughly, he could tell which one was coming around the corner. It was nice to be with just a small group of people, not overwhelming like the Garrison. It made times when they were with other aliens more manageable. And Voltron helped too, being linked with the other paladins was like….like his empathy was on steroids. It wasn’t just their emotions, their very beings were combined into one. It was a good feeling. It felt like...like he belonged. 

When he figured out he was Galran, he searched to try and find if Empathy was a Galran trait. None of the Galra he’d come into contact had it. He started looking up other aliens too, to see if one of them might be related. After all, if he was part ONE alien species, there was no reason to think he might have ancestry across the galaxy. He had limited results, though. 

When Shiro disappeared again, he felt the loss from everyone on the ship. He took to searching for Shiro just so he could be away from it, the solitude of empty space somewhat the same as the desert. Except...he still felt that pull it wasn’t towards a place or a thing, it was...all around him. Maybe it was Red.

It was only after he’d joined the Blades of Marmora full time that he really appreciated it….the pull was gone. It had always been there, but so subtle, so buried under his own emotions, and the emotions of his friends around him, so ALIEN in its nature he couldn’t identify it except in it’s absence.

The next time he visited Lion Castle, he went and sat alone in the Black Lion’s hangar. He thought about going to Red’s or even Blue’s considering that was the first one he maybe-felt, but somehow going to Black’s seemed right. He sat down and calmed his breath, trying to clear his emotions. One by one he focused on and pushed back each of his friend’s emotions, until he was left blank. Well, as blank as he could be.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he felt a humming of energy growing in the back of his brain. There was something, something hard to quantify there, and it was definitely coming from the lion in front of him. Was it emotion? Was he sensing it, or was it something the lion was projecting onto him?

Like a light switch flicked on, understanding hit him as he was able to identify the emotion, the emotion pouring out of the lion, and definitely meant for him, to the point he was ready to cry.

The emotion was pride.


End file.
